4chan leak summarized (Witcher-like Diablo @Blizzcon)

No one knows for sure if this leak is actually legit or not, but we will know in retrospect.

Recently, a person who claimed to be a medium level developer on Battle for Azeroth did an AMA on 4chan. He also claimed that he was working on one of the new Diablo projects before he was transferred to the BfA development.

If you wanna read the whole thread, here is an archived version of it:http://boards.4chan.org/v/thread/427369815/im-a-midlevel-developer-in-blizzard-ama

Here a summary of everything Diablo related he said:

Diablo 1 remaster is coming, although he did not say when.

next major Diablo game is coming out 2019 and "is going to be nothing like the old Diablos".

the next Diablo is not going to be a MMO. While he was still working on the next Diablo project, they played around with multiplayer, but they scrapped it.

the new Diablo game is going to be announced at this years Blizzcon.

the new Diablo game will play more like The Witcher or God of War.

he thinks the new Diablo is going to be fun.

in the new Diablo game there there are no classes and you gonna have a fixed protagonist.

Blizzard is trying to dominate every major game genre, and with the new Diablo title they are trying to rival Elder Scrolls/Fallout.

they are expecting the new Diablo game to "go down well".

he said Diablo 3 failed* and that is why they are rebranding the franchise to save it, because they think that people will not buy a Diablo that is the same as before.

==================

* This is an old discussion on whether or not Diablo 3 was a success or not, but there certainly is truth behind the idea that D3's success of selling 30 million copies was largely based on the success and reputation of its predecessors. What exactly he means with “Diablo 3 failed” is not clear, whether he means that players did not like it or that they were hoping for more money through the RMAH in the long run, etc...

==================I am not saying this is legit or not, I just provide you a summary of what was said.

I read about the supposed leak. It seems rather fake. I'll bring up one of the often mentioned points.

He said Diablo 3 failed* and that is why they are rebranding the francise to save it, because they think that people will not buy a Diablo that is the same as before.==================

* This is an old discussion on whether or not Diablo 3 was a success or not, but there certainly is truth behind the idea that D3's success of selling 30 million copies was largely based on the success and reputation of its predecessors. What exactly he means with “Diablo 3 failed” is not clear, whether he means that players did not like it or that they were hoping for more money through the RMAH in the long run, etc...

Here is the impression I am left with:

As a player, I believe D3 failed, because it sold 12 million copies on release, but RoS sold only 2.7 on release, and even though more people might have purchased the expansion later on, the player base and interest have been shrinking ever since.

As a player, I believe D3 was a Cash Grab. It sold based on the fact, that people are too cought up with brands. People ignored, that developers behind the previous games are no longer with the company. People focused on the Blizzard brand and on the Diablo brand. And back in 2008 the Blizzard brand meant quality, at least in my mind. Their games started to become more and more dull with the release of SC2 and Cata back in 2010, but I was still hopeful for D3. I couldn't be more wrong.

But this is my perspective as a player. Blizzard have proven time and time again, that they are out of touch. In their mind the game is a financial success.IMO it would have been better, if it was made solely for the PC, if it had some reasonable monetization (no RMAH, no monthly fee, instead maybe optional cosmetics and if it was true, to what a Diablo game is supposed to be, it would have sold even more copies, and it would have generated more money over the last 6 years.The only way people at Blizzard would regard D3 as a failure would be, if they reached a similar realization, which I highly doubt they are capable off...

Blizzard is trying to dominate every major game genre, and with the new Diablo title they are trying to rivial Elder Scrolls/Fallout.

The gameplay of the Elder Scrolls is absolutely terribad! It wouldn't fit Diablo.

They can make a 3rd person Diablo game, with camera behind the back or over the shoulder, but it should be more along the lines of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Warframe. They should make dungeons similar to those in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and they should make outdoor environments similar to those of Skyrim.If they make a Diablo game like that, they shouldn't make it Single Player Only, but instead make it, so that you can play coop with at least 4 players in a similar fashion to Warframe.

I highly doubt they are going to do something like that, though. It might actually end up being a good game, and that's not what Blizzard are going for nowadays...

Look.. we’re eventually going to know what’s happening way before it actually happens. Game companies don’t do whiplash because they’re fully aware people like and/or have to plan out their buys and their time, and they want to give their consumers ample opportunity to do that.

Rampant speculation like the above doesn’t accomplish much of anything.

Interesting read, but I'll believe it when it comes from a more official source than 4chan.

I'm not sure what to make of this information. Some of it would be perturbing if true as it strays from the core of the game itself. going to 3d ala Elder Scrolls I wouldn't have much trouble. I try to keep an open mind if possible and at the very least try the new game. Some of these other changes are a bit more drastic though, even for me when dealing with an ARPG.

But again, we're relying on the assumption that what is posted in 4chan is true. I'll reserve judgement for now and get my virtual blizzcon ticket.

Diablo will always be a "isometric Dungeon Crawler Hack and Slash ARPG".

It's possible there will be "Spin-Off-Diablo-Titles" coming in the future, but the core-game of the Diablo franchise will always be "Isometric-Dungeon-Crawler-Hack and Slash-ARPGs"

Think about this:

D3 failed in the eyes of Diablo Fans, yet it sold 30+ million combined copies. The game is hated by the majority of Diablo Fans and only liked by casuals that come and go regularly.

Now Imagine a D4 that is superb in the eyes of Diablo Fans. It would sell more than double or triple of D3's sales. If D4 does it right this time, and Diablo fans are speaking fondly of it and rating it highly, then the sales would be astronomical and growing for years after launch.

I believe that D3 "only" sold 30+ million combined "units" because of how displeased Diablo Fans are with it from the beginning until now. If the game would have been a superb D2LOD successor the sales would have been WAY higher than 30 million copies.

Also those 30+ million copies are a cumulative compilation of:

D3-Vanilla PC

D3-Vanilla Mac

D3-WOW-Annual-Pass

ROS

PS3

PS4

XBOX 360

XBOX One

All those items in this list are counted as 1 "unit".

If D4 returns to its roots to win back Diablo Fans, D4 will sell 30-50 Million "BASE-Game" "units" alone.

D4 must win back all of the Diablo Fan-Base by returning to its roots. It will have to deliver an incredibly deep and long-term loot-hunt and character-building game unseen in the industry. If Blizzard has any competence, they can pull it off, and show everyone how a studio like Blizzard is capable to create an ARPG like the world has not seen before. Until I am proven wrong, there is hope that D4 will take the best out of D1, D2LOD, and D3, to create the best Diablo ever while also adding new stuff ON-TOP of the Core Diablo Experience we know from the past:

Although I would fully being play this game concept a million times I hope they at least give Diablo MMO-ARRPG hybrid a chance in the future sometime before I die. If they make this game like God of War they better include some cool DLC so we can spend our hard earned money on it.

As a player, I believe D3 failed, because it sold 12 million copies on release, but RoS sold only 2.7 on release,

Umm.... no it did not. It sold 12 million the first year. RoS sold 2.7 million the first week. D3 was know for its first day sales record which was 3.5 million.

From Wiki, but they did use the Blizzard financials and news releases as a source.

Diablo III set a new record for fastest-selling PC game selling over 3.5 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release,[6] and was the best selling PC game of 2012, selling over 12 million copies during the year

No one knows for sure if this leak is actually legit or not, but we will know in retrospect.

Recently, a person who claimed to be a medium level developer on Battle for Azeroth did an AMA on 4chan. He also claimed that he was working on one of the new Diablo projects before he was transferred to the BfA development.

If you wanna read the whole thread, here is an archived version of it:http://boards.4chan.org/v/thread/427369815/im-a-midlevel-developer-in-blizzard-ama

Here a summary of everything Diablo related he said:

Diablo 1 remaster is coming, although he did not say when.

next major Diablo game is coming out 2019 and "is going to be nothing like the old Diablos".

the next Diablo is not going to be a MMO. While he was still working on the next Diablo project, they played around with multiplayer, but they scrapped it.

the new Diablo game is going to be announced at this years Blizzcon.

the new Diablo game will play more like The Witcher or God of War.

he thinks the new Diablo is going to be fun.

in the new Diablo game there there are no classes and you gonna have a fixed protagonist.

Blizzard is trying to dominate every major game genre, and with the new Diablo title they are trying to rival Elder Scrolls/Fallout.

they are expecting the new Diablo game to "go down well".

he said Diablo 3 failed* and that is why they are rebranding the franchise to save it, because they think that people will not buy a Diablo that is the same as before.

==================

* This is an old discussion on whether or not Diablo 3 was a success or not, but there certainly is truth behind the idea that D3's success of selling 30 million copies was largely based on the success and reputation of its predecessors. What exactly he means with “Diablo 3 failed” is not clear, whether he means that players did not like it or that they were hoping for more money through the RMAH in the long run, etc...

==================I am not saying this is legit or not, I just provide you a summary of what was said.

I am not saying this is legit or not, I just provide you a summary of what was said.

If information does not come from a reputable source, you should personally verify the information and/or its source before you decide to share it with others. Otherwise, you are complicit in the spread of misinformation.